CBI raids premises of three Adarsh scam accused

MUMBAI - The CBI has seized nearly 200 files related to the scam-hit Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society during raids on the office of the society, premises of three of its promoters and the house of a former state information commissioner, an official said Sunday.

In a coordinated operation starting early Sunday, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted searches at houses and offices in Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and Patna.

The three promoters whose houses and offices were searched are among the 13 people named by the CBI in its first information report (FIR) in the case.

Apart from the three accused, the CBI also raided the house of former state information commissioner (SIC) Ramanand Tiwari, the official added.

“Several incriminating documents, laptops, hard disks and files have been seized from all premises that were raided,” a CBI official said.

The raids targeted society president Brigadier (Retired) M.M. Wangchu, former Congress legislator and society co-promoter Kanhaiyalal Gidwani, and chief society promoter and former defence estates officer R.C. Thakur and SIC Tiwari, the official said.

Two flats and one office of Gidwani and three houses of Thakur in Thane, Nagpur and Bihar were raided. Raids were also conducted at the Adarsh Society’s office in Mumbai.

After months of conducting preliminary inquiry into the scam, the CBI registered an FIR Saturday against 13 people.

The development comes in the wake of the Bombay High Court seeking to know what action the CBI has taken in the matter without registering an FIR into the case.

At a hearing Jan 18, the high court directed the investigating agency to file the FIR in the case within two weeks.

Among other things, the society was accused of usurping a prime plot of defence land meant to house heroes and families of Kargil war, violating floor space index rules and the coastal regulation zone norms, and also flouting other regulations.

Former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan has also been named in the FIR.

Chavan quit as the chief minister after his name cropped up in the scam. Following Chavan’s exit, a former state human rights commission member Subhash Lalla also quit on the same ground.

Tiwari was suspended Jan 20 by the state government, which also initiated proceedings seeking his removal from the constitutional post.

Among other things, Tiwari was accused of withholding crucial information on the clearances granted to the 31-storeyed building of the society in south Mumbai, in which many politicians and bureaucrats are members.

Besides, the state government is also looking into the role of various other bureaucrats whose names have cropped up in the scam.

Similarly, the defence authorities have also initiated a parallel probe into the role of its officers who were directly or indirectly involved in the scam.